It looks like the Hawks are on their way to secure another Eastern Conference playoff spot this year.

While that indeed is good news, it looks like the Hawks will not be winning any Southeast Division titles anytime soon. The Hawks are 4-7 against the division.

With Saturday’s loss, the Hawks are 1-3 vs. Miami this year, haven’t beaten the Magic, 1-1 vs. the Bobcats with two left to play and have beaten a very depleted Washington team (but hasn’t everybody?)

For more perspective, The Hawks are 17-6 in the Conference outside the division and 19-9 against the Western Conference.

So, the good news is that these guys get up for games, just not division games.

This probably goes back to the criticism I’ve had of Mike Woodson since he became the Hawks’ coach: He’s doesn’t adjust. Yes, the Magic have not lost to the Hawks this year, but do you think they’ve used the same gameplan for each matchup?

No. they haven’t. The foundation may be there (shut down Smith and Johnson, etc.), but they’ve tweaked it enough to keep the Hawks guessing. Why doesn’t Woodson do the same?

All season long, I’ve been blogging about how the Hawks need to stack up against the Western Conference because, right now, that is the elite conference in the NBA. If they can beat those teams, and by their record they are, then they will be near the top of their league.

I never thought I would have to ask the Hawks to win some division games. That’s just common sense. You beat your division opponents, then conference, then the other conference foes. That’s how you become a top team, in any professional sport.

So, again, Coach Woodson, I implore you: Learn to adjust. Learn to make in-game adjustments, learn to make adjustments at the half, and to get the division record on track, learn to make game to game adjustments.

There’s no telling where this team would be if they had a better division record.

To be blunt, the NBA All-Star game hasn’t been hosted by an Eastern Conference city since Philips Arena (Atlanta) hosted it in 2003.

The NBA treats their All-Star game like the NFL treats the Super Bowl: Cities have to bid on the game. The NBA doesn’t do what MLB does and rotate between the two leagues (or conferences).

NBA All-Star weekend is a big money maker for it’s host city. Hotels are booked, FanFest is crowded and tickets are bought for everything, including the over-rated slam dunk contest (if you saw this year’s contest, you know what I’m talking about).

So, as a fan of an Eastern Conference team I implore the NBA to share the love. What about Atlanta again, Orlando (which last hosted in 1992), Miami (last hosted in 1990 when Magic, pictured left, was MVP) and doesn’t Philadelphia deserve another shot since they didn’t get to host in 1999 due to the lockout?

Does the NBA want a warm spot for their All-Star game? Is that what the problem is? The cities I listed above, plus Charlotte would work. By the way, didn’t it snow in Dallas this year?

Come on NBA, fans in the Eastern Conference want to see these guys, too. Watching the game on TNT is all right, but nothing beats seeing the stars live and in person.

You’ve probably heard, read or seen the news that Atlanta is sending not one, but two NBA All-Stars to the game in Dallas on Valentine’s Day.

Some more good news:
1. Atlanta(2) and Boston(3) are the only teams in the Eastern Conference sending multiple players in the game.
2. The Southeast Division is 80% represented with players from Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, and Charlotte. Washington is the only team in the division not sending a rep.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that Joe Johnson and Al Horford are representing the Hawks at the game. They were named as reserves by the Eastern Conference coaching staff. That means, that coaches and maybe fellow players think that Johnson and Horford are deserving.

However, NBA fans still don’t think the Hawks are legit. What troubles me even more is that they think that Allen Iverson can still contribute.

That’s Philly fans for ya: hanging on to old guys pass their prime (see Jamie Moyer).

Anyway, while I’m happy that two Hawks will play in the game, it would be nice to see a little love and respect from other NBA fans.

I mean, after all, the Hawks did sweep Boston this season.

I was reading a weekly newspaper in Atlanta recently and they felt that since the Hawks had lost four straight about a week ago, that their early season winning streak was a fluke.

What?

These are probably the same people that if I were to point out that the Hawks have won three straight, including being undefeated against Boston this season, they would reply, “Boston hasn’t been healthy. They’ve got some players out with injury.”

So?

No professional league that I know of reschedules games because a team doesn’t have all their players. Do you think that if Josh Smith was injured, that other teams would wait until he got healthy to play the Hawks?

No. No, they wouldn’t.

So, the Hawks continue to play when and whom they’re scheduled to play.

These Hawks are not a fluke. They be a little inconsistent (0-2 vs. the Knicks, 3-0 vs. Boston), but they’re not a fluke.

It looked like tonight that I would be blogging about the Hawks fourth quarter troubles (again!). After all, they kept it close with Phoenix in the third, but they did have the lead. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Phoenix pulled ahead.

With Phoenix up by four with 10 seconds left, things did not look good for the Hawks. In fact, a year ago Phoenix would have probably won this game. Even with the 3pt ability of Mike Bibby, Phoenix probably still would have won.

We move ahead this year: Phoenix now up by two with 3 seconds left (maybe 3.3, I’m not quite sure). The ball is in hands of Jamal Crawford. He takes a shot from near the top of the key and …..IT’S GOOD!!!

I couldn’t believe it. Jamal Crawford coming to the Hawks is the best signing for this franchise since…well, I don’t know, but it’s been a long time. If he doesn’t get this year’s sixth man award, tell me who should.

Go ahead, tell me . I’ll wait….Yeah, didn’t think so. Jamal has sparked this team. If he’s not a sixth man, then he should be some sort of MVP.

Yep, I wrote it. I stand by it.

Anyway, maybe a win over a good Western Conference team will get the Hawks some request and it’ll keep the naysayers quiet.

Maybe now, that weekly paper will pick on the Braves. Troy Glaus? Really?

They were in Atlanta to play the Hawks and were very accommodating guests losing by 30.

Yes, the Hawks losing streak was only four games and yes, two of those games were to the same team (Cleveland), but a streak is a streak.

Yes, the Hawks looked great, firing on all cylinders. No fourth quarter meltdowns as from games past. In fact, Jeff Teague got some playing time and I’m beginning to like him. Unlike Acie Law when he was a Hawk, Jeff is actually getting some playing time in his rookie season. Law was a talented PG in college, so was Teague and now we can say that Teague is a talented PG in the NBA. The jury is still out on Law.

Unfortunately, the Hawks beat a team that probably isn’t heading to the playoffs this year (or the next or in 2012). You kinda want your team to get their “swagger” back against a potential playoff team.

The Hawks will get their chance on Friday night when the Celtics come to town. Hey, the Hawks have already beaten the Celtics once this season, maybe they can do it again.

After losing to the Cavaliers at home in Philips Arena Tuesday night, the Hawks had another shot at the Cavaliers the next night.

Yes, thanks to some great scheduling by the NBA, the Hawks played back-to-back games against the Cavs. Wednesday’s game was in Cleveland, a place the Hawks haven’t won in the past seven tries.

Make that eight.

The first half of this game, the Hawks played lights out. They were great on offense (scoring 57 first half points) and blocked shots and grabbed rebounds with spectacular defense. After two, the Hawks had a 12 point lead.

Well, the lead got up to 17 in the second half before the Cavaliers kept roaring back.

Now, I’m not gonna sit here and type that the Hawks were robbed by a shot clock mishap and an unfairly credited three point shot by Cleveland with less than a minute to play.

Nope. I’ve come here to praise the Hawks. They got it done, they just came up a little short. Joe Johnson had 15 points in Atlanta on Tuesday night. He had 35 points in Cleveland on Wednesday. Mike Bibby had two points on Tuesday, 20 points on Wednesday. He’s the one I wanted to make that shot at the end. He did and unfortunately, it came up a little short.

I also want to give Mike Woodson credit for rotating his centers to guard Shaq. We all know that Shaq isn’t the greatest free throw shooter in the world. Because of that, Woodson rotated his centers to be aggressive against the big man. When each one would get a couple of fouls, Woodson would have another one come off the bench. Besides, when the last time you saw Jason Collins play some quality minutes in the second period like he did?

Brilliant!

The Hawks have been in a roll recently. In fact, since their loss to the Knicks on December 4, the Hawks won six in a row. A winning streak — what you want from your favorite NBA team, right?

Well, maybe not. The NBA is set up where good teams can take advantage of bad teams, but you want to be challenged every so often.

The Hawks were challenged recently in Denver. They lost by 20 to the Nuggets. But being blown out at Denver was not a bad thing. My thinking is Denver, unless something huge happens, is going to make the playoffs. The Hawks should make the playoffs. Therefore, it was a true test to see how the Hawks stack up against a very-competitive-Western-Conference team.

Once the playoffs start, there won’t be an Indiana Pacers team to pad your win totals or the Sacramento Kings or …well, you get the idea.

The Hawks found out that they’ve got some work to do. But not too worry, they’ve got four months to figure it out.

As I settled in to watch the Hawks take on the Memphis Grizzlies, I was greeted by the Hawks TV announcers singing the praises of Memphis forward Rudy Gay and his exceptional effort since Allen Iverson left for Philadelphia.

um…Excuse me?

Are you talking about the same Rudy Gay who has appeared in 78 games or more per season since he came into the NBA in 2006-2207? Is this the same Rudy Gay who has averaged 17.1 PPG and 5.5 RPG? That one?

Rudy Gay is a very capable player and I still don’t why Memphis signed Iverson this past summer. Iverson’s skills have gotten worse over the years and he’s not a team player. Watch him play: He’s a ball hog. So was Memphis signing him to backup draft pick O.J. Mayo or to start Iverson ahead of Mayo?

Maybe the Hawks announcers meant that with Iverson gone, Gay can actually get the ball and score like he has in the past. I bet the Grizzlies are regretting signing Iverson now.

Anyway, if the Hawk announcers are talking about an opposing player that is not named Kobe, Shaq, or LeBron, and I’m doing the same on this blog, you know the Hawks won in a rout.

They did, Hawks 110-97. It wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. It was close in the first quarter because the Hawks kept turning the ball over. But in the end, the Hawks won that battle, too: 14 TOs to Memphis’ 20.

So, once again the Hawks are doing what they need to do: Win at home and split on the road.

It’s great to be a Hawks fan, isn’t it?

When the Hawks’ sixth man, Jamal Crawford, is the team’s leading scorer at halftime, you know the Hawks are on a roll.

When the Chicago Bulls go about 4 minutes without making a shot (end of the 1st period and start of the second), you know the Hawks are playing great ‘D.”

When Mike Woodson lets EVERYBODY play including Hawk players you might have forgotten about like Randolph Morris and Jason Collins, you know the Hawks are on a roll.

When the ESPN announcers’ biggest story of this game is the reunion of former University of Florida teammates Joakim Noah (Bulls) and Al Horford (Hawks), you know they’re bored. Why are they bored? Hawks are on a roll.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not cracking on the Bulls. After all, they were a playoff team last season. But, aside from losses to Charlotte and the Knicks, the Hawks are on a roll and they are doing the right things (playing good d, not rushing shots, and being team players) to be a great, not good NBA team.

I hope they keep it up.

At least that was the perception of New York’s NBA team around the nation: inept management, inept coaches and inept players.

Remember Issiah Thomas? Lately, he has been known for dragging the Knicks down into the murky waters of the NBA than for his glory days with the Pistons.

Still, The Knicks did beat the Phoenix Suns in NY earlier this week. So, they were riding high when they came to Philips Arena for their game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks, too, were riding high as well. 13 wins in 18 games, 8-1 at home and a recent thirty point win over the Toronto Raptors put the Hawks in the role of Goliath.

Well, Goliath meet David. The Hawks looked good in the beginning taking a 11-0 lead…then, the wheels fell off.

Let’s see…After scoring 34 points in the first quarter, the Hawks managed only 17 in the second; Josh Smith was ejected after arguing with the referees and the Hawks couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat.

TV analyst Dominique Wilkins made a good point about the Josh Smith ejection: Where were his teammates? After Josh was warned by the ref, his teammates should have pulled Smith back and calmed him down, according to Wilkins.

I don’t know if the fact that Smith wasn’t on the floor during the game’s final drive made a difference, but, man, they needed something.

After a great start, the Hawks are looking more mortal every game.

I started this blog wondering if the Knicks have turned the corner, i.e. if they a better team than people give them credit for. Well, I’m gonna end this column wondering if the Hawks have what it takes to compete with the “big boys” in the NBA.